Archery bow and view-finding reel



Dec. 22, 1959 H. c. STOCKFLETH ,9

ARCHERY BOW AND VIEW-FINDING REEL Filed June 3, 1957 ARCHERY now ANDVIEWQFENDING REEL Harry c. Stockfieth, Chatham,- NJ.

Application June 3, 1957, Serial No. 663,113

1 Claim. cl; 124-2s The invention relates to bow reels for use withcaptive arrows such as are employedto shoot and retrieve fish or othergame, to shoot a line across an inaccessible 'ravine :or from shore to adisabled-vessel, and similar purposes, and has particular reference to alarge-diameter annular reel which encompasses the bow-holding hand ofthe-archer in a manner to constitute a View finder through which thetarget may be viewed in sighting the arrow.

I am aware of a prior art bow reel that is tubular in construction andjust large enough in inside diameter to permit the arrow and restrainingline to operate therethrough with minimum clearance. This device quiteappropriately is called a spool and is attached to one side of the bowin the region of the handle. Due to the bulk of the solid portions ofthe spool, it is necessary to provide a special handle on the side ofthe bow opposite to the spool, which is undesirable. A furtherdisadvantage of this spool is the fact that it must be moved from oneside of the bow to the other in order to accommodate the bow to archersof different handedness, i.e. it must be on the left side for aright-handed archer and on the right side for a left-handed one.

With the above-enumerated disadvantages of the prior art bow reel inmind, it is the primary object of my present invention to provide animproved reel which is intended to occupy one fixed position on the bowin which it is constantly adapted for use by either right-handed orleft-handed archers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bow reel that permitsfree use of the conventional bow handle without obstructing it in anyway.

To be more explicit, my improved bow reel is annular in form, is ofcomparatively large diameter, and is attached to the rear face of thebow (opposite to the archer) at points above and below the usual handlethereof with its axis intersecting the bow at substantially the locationof an arrow while being held in drawn position ready for discharge atthe target. Due to this construction and mode of attachment, the archersbow-holding hand will be inside the circle represented by the reel andthere will be ample space on both sides of the bow for the archer to aimthrough the reel. The reel thus serves in the manner of a view finderand permits the archer to find the best aiming point under existingconditions of wind deflection and personal holding and releasing errorsby interpolation of the target in different angular positions betweenthe axis and circumference of the reel.

A further object is to provide means on the reel by which thearrow-attached end portion of the restraining line may be temporarilysecured against becoming unwound from the reel until the moment of arrowdischarge, at which time the line will become detached automaticallyfrom the securing means with minimum resistance to normal accelerationof the arrow.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will becomeapparent as the following specific de- 2,918,049 Patented Dec. 22, 19 59scription is read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of the reel in operational use on a how by aright-handed archer, the bow being shown partially broken away; and

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on line 22 .of Fig. 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, wherein like referencecharacters designate corresponding parts in the several views, it willbe observed that the reel'10 is annular in form and of sufiicientdiameterto encompass the handleH of a bow B when attached to the latterat points above and below said handle by suitable means,

such as the perforated substantially L-shaped brackets'lI and 12 andrelated screws 13 and '14,"respectively.i In this location, the axis ofreel 10 will intersect bow B substantially at the top of handle H.Obviously, some other attaching means, such as tape wrappings (notshown), may be employed instead to secure reel 10 to bow'B.

Due. to the size of reel 10, there will be ample spaces S and S on bothsides of bowB to permit the archer to sight through the reel at histarget.

Itis to be understood that, in the operational use of the reel inhunting fish or for any other appropriate purpose, the arroW-restrainingline L will have one end attached to a captive arrow A and the oppositeend portion wound in convolute coils around the periphery of reel 10 asat 15 and terminally attached thereto. During any delay in suchoperational use, the reel-wound major portion of line L may be securedagainst accidental unreeling by means of the device which will now bedescribed.

A line clip device 16 is supported by reel 10 closely adjacent to itsfront edge. A preferred location for clip device 16 is on the uppermostportion of reel 10, where it may be engaged with line L in a manner tosuspend the arrow-attached portion of the latter above the arrow andhand of the archer so as to avoid any entanglement therewith eitherbefore or during arrow discharge. In the illustrative embodiment of myinvention, line clip device 16 is formed by bending up the free end ofthe horizontal portion of bracket 11 to provide a jaw 17 in divergingrelation to the top surface of reel 10. The line L may be wedged lightlyinto the angular mouth 18 thus formed to secure, or snub, the line inthe desired manner.

In the operational use of my improved bow reel to shoot live game whichmay be hunted legally in this way, such as carp or other rough fish,enough of the restraining line L is unclipped and unwound from reel 10to reach to the nock end of an arrow A when engaged with the bowstringof bow B and drawn to the maximum bowtensioning degree in the act ofshooting the arrow. Then, the line L at the point where it leaves reel10 is re-clipped to the latter and the free end of the line is attachedto the captive arrow A by suitable means (not shown).

After the foregoing preliminary manipulations, the

' hunter is ready to approach his target, such as the fish when visibleat or near the surface of a pond or other body of Water. When aiming atthe target, he looks through the reel, as a view finder, and may makeallowances for elevation and lateral deflection by raising or loweringthe bow and moving it to right or left by interpolation of the targetsapparent position between the axis and circumference of reel 10 along aselected imaginary radial line in the appropriate quadrant of the reelscircle to the left or right of the bow, depending upon whether he isright-handed or left-handed. The interpolated position of the targetwill have been determined by long practice in shooting at differentranges, and takes into account any personal bow-drawing andarrow-releasing characteristics of the individual archer.

When the arrow is released in any instance, the restraining line L willbecome disengaged from clip device constitute departures from thespiritlof the a 3 4 16 automatically and without any arrow-derangingeffects.

To reel in the fish after it has been penetrated by the arrowhead,thehunter simply holdsethebow 13- firm1y with one hand and re winds' theline Lonto reel 10. iDue to the large diameter of reel 10, the number ofturns of line L around the reel will be far fewer than when using thepreviously described prior art spool and therewill be less danger ofaccidental escape of the line from'the fingers during this re-winding,or reeling-in,-operation under the pull of the fish. .7 p

It is to be understood that the presentdisclosure of the invention is anillustrative example and that various changes, modifications andalterations may be made in the structural embodiment thus chosen whichdo fnot invention and scope of the appended claim. 3

-I'claim: W

An archery device comprising, in combinationi a bow having a centralhandle; a plain annular rim-flangeless reel body for the restrainingline of a captive arrow mounted on the-rear face of the bow with itsaxis substantially intersecting the top of the bow handle, said reelbody being of such comparatively large diameter that ample space isprovided within the reel body on each u .7 4 side of the bow handle forholding the bow and for operation and sighting of a captive arrow andits line; a line clip device arranged on the reel body in a position toengage the line yieldingly at the forward edge of said reel body andthereby prevent accidental uncoiling, said clip device being in the formof a clip plate of resilient material affixed to the outer periphery ofthe reel body and having a forwardly and outwardly inclined jawproviding a forwardly presented line wedging mouth between said jaw andreel body; and attaching means located at the top and bottom of the reelbody by which the said body is attached to the bow, at least one of saidattaching means being a substantially L-shaped bracket of resilientplate material of which one arm portion is vertically disposed andattached to the bow and the other arm portion is horizontally arrangedand constitutes the clip plate of the line clip device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1736,051 Adams Aug 11,1903 2,504,525 Holderness Apr. 18, 1950 2,808,043Lombard Oct. 1, 1957 2,812,756 Myers Nov. 12,1957

